Twin pail



J1me 1955 w. E. ACKERMANN TWIN PAIL Filed June 15, 1950 INVENTOR W/MamEAc/(ermann nited States Patent TWIN PAIL William E. Ackermann, Wheeling, W. Va., assignor to Wheeling Steel Corporation, Wheeling, W. Va., a corporation of Delaware Application June 15, 1950, Serial No. 168,343

2 Claims. (Cl. 22023.4)

This invention relates to a twin pail, i. e., to a unit consisting of two pails which can be lifted and carried about together by a single handle. The invention relates more particularly to a separable twin pail, i. e., a twin pail in which the pails may be separated from each other and used individually.

Twin pails have heretofore been provided but have been subject to various disadvantages. A twin pail which proved quite satisfactory is disclosed in Patent No. 2,212,476, but that twin pail is not separable; the two pails are permanently fastened together by the handle and cannot be taken apart and used individually. Separable twin pails have also been provided but such pails have been quite unsatisfactory for one or more of a number of reasons. It has been customary to flatten one side of each of the pails to form a separable twin pail, and the means for separably fastening the pails together to enable them to be carried by a single handle have been complex, expensive and impractical. Examples of such twin pails may be found in Patents Nos. 2,117,404, 2,117,405 and 2,470,432. It has also been proposed to provide a separate carrying device for circular twin pails as shown in Patent No. 2,362,331, but the carrying device is heavy, unwieldy and costly. The further problem of making separable twin pails nestable for packing and shipping and also for convenience in use has likewise not been solved in a practical way; a few of the separable twin pails which have heretofore been proposed have been nestable, such, for example, as that of Patent No. 2,362,331, but the nestability has been realized at the expense of excess weight, complexity and high cost of the means for holding the pails together as a unit. Many other proposals have been made to provide separable twin pails but in no case prior to the present invention have fully satisfactory results been obtained.

I have devised a twin pail which overcomes all of the disadvantages of the prior devices. I cmploy circular pails which are not flattened at their sides and which therefore have the fullest utility when employed either together or separately. I provide means of extreme simplicity and low cost for separably fastening the pails together. The pails are nestable either when fastened together in the twin pail unit or when they are separated from each other. The handle for carrying the pails together is disposed in vertical alignment with the center of gravity of the twin pail unit so that when the pails are empty or filled to the same extent with water and the twin pail unit is being carried by the handle both pails will assume a level position. Preferably the handle is attached to the outside of one of the pails so as to lie in vertical alignment with the center of gravity of the unit. I preferably provide on the other pail a strap adapted to receive the handle, the strap also desirably being fastened to the outside of the pail carrying it. The strap can easily be lowered about the handle to embrace the same so that assembly and disassembly of the pails involves merely raising or lowering one of the pails while the other remains in fixed position. There Patented June 28, 1 5

are no moving parts and no fastening means to be manipulated in any way. The handle and strap maintain the pails in fixed relative orientation with their upper rims coplanar. I preferably provide abutting portions on the handle and strap maintaining the lower portions of the pails spaced apart so that the twin pail is nestable with a similar twin pail, the handle of the lower pail being received between the spaced apart lower portions of the upper pail.

By reason of the fact that both pails are circular and that the handle and strap are fastened to the exterior surfaces of the pails the individual pails can be nested when they are separated from each other; either one may be nested inside the other. Each pail is preferably provided with a bail whereby it may be carried individually when separated from the other pail.

The handle and strap are preferably made of sheet metal and are preferably welded to the outside surfaces of the completely circular individual pails, the cost of forming and attaching the handle and strap being very small. Stock pails may be used and the same handle and strap may be applied to stock pails of different sizes.

Other details, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description of a present preferred embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a present preferred embodiment of the invention in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a twin pail;

Figure 2 is a face view of one of the pails of the twin P Figure 3 is a face view of the other pail; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional View through the engaging portions of the pails when they are interengaged as shown in Figure l.

l utilize two circular stock pails designated respectively by reference numerals 2 and 3. Each of the pails is of smaller dimension at the bottom than at the top. Each pail has a top rim 4 and a bottom rim 5. Each pail has a bail 6 fastened thereto by bail ears 7 welded to the pail as well known to those skilled in the art. The structure thus far described is standard pail structure known to those skilled in the art.

Welded to the outside of the pail 2 is a handle designated generally by reference numeral 8. The handle 8 is formed of sheet metal and comprises attaching portions 9 disposed on opposite sides of the plane containing the axes of the pails. Each of the attaching portions 9 has a flange 10 adapted to lie against the outer surface of the pail 2 below the top rim 4 thereof and to be welded to the pail 2, as, for example, by spot welding. The handle 8 has a grip portion 11 intersecting the plane containing the axes of the pails and extending between the attaching portions 9. The grip portion 11, is formed in generally U-shape when viewed in a direction generally parallel to said plane and is also of generally channel shape in cross section When viewed in a direction generally perpendicular to said plane as clearly shown in the drawings. The grip portion 11 is positioned so that when the two pails 2 and 3 are fastened together to form a twin pail unit the center of the grip portion 11 will lie directly above the center of gravity of the twin pail unit.

A strap designated generally by reference numeral 12 is welded to the outside of the pail 3. The strap 12 is formed of sheet metal and comprises attaching portions 13 disposed on opposite sides of the plane containing the axes of the pails. Each of the attaching portions 13 has a flange 14 adapted to lie against the outer surface of the pail 3 below the top rim 4 thereof and to be welded to the pail 3, as, for example, by spot welding. The strap 12 has upwardly and outwardly projecting portions 15 extending from the respective attaching portions 13 and a transverse portion 16 joining the two portions 15 so that the portions 15 and 16 of the strap form with the adjacent portion of the rim 4 of the pail 3 an opening adapted to receive the grip portion 11 of the handle 8 fastened to the pail 2. When the pails are to be connected the pail 2 is simply placed on the fioor or on any surface and the pail 3 is lowered into place so that the grip portion 11 of the pail 2 is received within the strap 12 of the pail 3 as shown in Figure 1.

The outside surfaces of the attaching portions 9 and 13 are flanged as shown at 17 to form abutting portions cooperating with each other when the pails are in assembled relationship to insure orientation of the paiis with their top rims in a common plane and their bottom rims in a common plane and their bottom portions separated as shown in Figure 1 so as to receive the grip portion of i.

a similar twin pail into which the twin pail is nested. The rims 4 of the pails are shown slightly spaced apart beneath the grip portion 11, the spacing varying somewhat with the sizes of pails to which the handle and strap are applied. Generally, however, the upper rims of the two pails approach tangency to each other while the lower rims are substantially spaced apart to provide for nesting as above explained.

The grip portion 11 is somewhat necked in at its center to provide passage space for the upper rim 4 of the pail the twin pail the pail 3 can be easily and immediately disconnected from the pail 2 by simply lifting it upwardly. This can be done by handling the pail 3 by its bail 6. It can be similarly replaced.

In addition to the advantages mentioned above my twin pail has the further advantage that the respective pails 2 and 3 each with the handle or strap welded to it as the case may be can be hot dip galvanized without interference with operation of any movable parts or fastening elements. The cost of the twin pail is very low indeed, yet it is vastly superior to any twin pail heretofore provided, combining for the first time all of the features of utilization of stock circular pails, nestability of the twin pail when the two pails are assembled as well as of the individual pails when they are disassembled, freedom from moving parts, strength and ruggedness, ease of assembly and disassembly and fastening together of the pails in fixed relationship when they are being carried by the common handle.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of the invention it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may Cir be otherwise variously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A twin pail comprising two pails each having a rigid connector of generally U shape whose extremities are rigidly connected to the corresponding pail at the upper portion thereof and whose central portion is spaced therefrom, each connector being disposed entirely externally of the pail to which it is connected, one of the connectors being of less dimension in the direction between the extremities thereof than the other and extending generally upwardly from its connections with the corresponding pail and above the level of the top thereof and the other of the connectors extending generally outwardly from its connections with the corresponding pail so that the smaller connector may project upwardly through the larger connector with its central portion serving as a handle for carrying the two pails as a unit.

2. A twin pail comprising two pails each having a rigid connector of generally U shape whose extremities are rigidly connected to the corresponding pail at the upper portion thereof and whose central portion is spaced therefrom, each connector being disposed entirely externally of the pail to which it is connected, one of the connectors being of less dimension in the direction between the extremities thereof than the other and extending generally upwardly from its connections with the corresponding pail and above the level of the top thereof and the other of the connectors extending generally outwardly from its connections with the corresponding pail so that the smaller connector may project upwardly through the larger connector with its central portion serving as a handle for carrying the two pails as a unit, the pails being tapered from relatively small dimension at the bottom to relatively great dimension at the top, the smaller connector extending into abutting relation with a portion of the assembly of the opposing pail and the larger connector to maintain the pails when connected by the connectors with their bottoms spaced apart so as to provide space for the connectors of a similar twin pail and thereby permit nesting of the twin pails.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,866,074 Angelbeck July 5, 1932 2,078,165 Schwartz Apr. 20, 1937 2,117,405 Curtis May 17, 1938 2,212,476 Kielberg Aug. 20, 1940 2,362,331 Weber Nov. 7, 1944 2,470,432 Cusick May 17, 1949 2,565,448 Brownell Aug. 21, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 59,737 Austria Jan. 25, 1913 275,136 Germany June 9, 1914 

